Rolf Jacobson, who is a professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary recently commented on our text today, and shared an interesting anecdote that I found particularly appealing. He started by asking a strange sort of question: He asked, “On your last drive of more than ten minutes, how many orange cars or trucks did you see?” I thought it was such an interesting question, I’d ask you. How about it? How many orange cars did you see on your last drive of ten or more minutes?
This weekend, we celebrate Christ the King Sunday. A weird sort of celebration when you think about it. The text we will share is about a man who is not only reviled, but taunted and ridiculed and tortured and killed. The execution of Jesus was one of the most horrendous in all of human history. So how does it make sense to celebrate Jesus’ kingship. What does Jesus’ kingship even mean? What does the kingship of one who is reviled and executed, even mean? What does it mean when the lamb who is led to the slaughter is the Lamb who is King? What does it mean to ask about how many orange cars I’ve seen, when there aren’t any? ...or are there?
This weekend, we shall celebrate Jesus as King (and orange cars).